You know it, you've lived it: The temperatures this week and weekend have been out of control, topping 100 degrees across most of Southern California.
And while Los Angeles hasn't quite turned into Phoenix, the heat has caused quite a bit of stress for local residents, not to mention the power systems we rely on. As of noon Saturday, about 7,000 of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s electric customers were without power.
Even in typically temperate Santa Monica, it's projected to be so hot tomorrow that the organizers of the Santa Monica Classic have halved its 10K race and offered earlier start times.
There is good news a little further down the horizon, though: The National Weather Service is forecasting that Monday should be the last day of triple-digit temperatures in most of coastal and inland Southern California.
The excessive heat warnings should wrap up on 8 p.m. Monday. On Tuesday, temperatures are forecasted to be about 10 degrees cooler, dropping to the low to mid 90s across most of the region. Still pretty hot, but we'll take it.
The current heat wave has lasted longer than anticipated — if you've been checking your weather app this week, you likely noticed that it was originally supposed to be over 100 degrees for only a couple days.
"When we first issued [the excessive heat warning] earlier this week, we didn't have it going all the way through Monday," said meteorologist Dave Munyan of the NWS. "We had to extend it as we got closer into the end of the week."
But this time around, meteorologists said there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.
"I don't expect us to have to extend it any further than it is right now," Munyan said. "Monday looks to be the last very abnormally hot day, and then once we get into Tuesday, I think that's when a more notable relief will come for a lot of the coastal and especially the inland areas."
Before then, please stay cool, drink water and keep the health of yourself and your loved ones top of mind. Here's how to stay on top of heat stroke and heat exhaustion, and how to stay cool if you don't have air conditioning.
L.A. and Long Beach cooling centers
The city of L.A. has now opened six cooling centers to help Angelenos beat the heat from 10 a.m .to 9 p.m today through Monday:
- Fred Roberts Recreation Center
4700 Honduras St., Los Angeles - Mid Valley Senior Center
8801 Kester Ave., Panorama City - Sunland Senior Center
8640 Fenwick St., Sunland - Lafayette Multipurpose Community Center
625 S Lafayette Park Place, Los Angeles - Jim Gilliam Recreation Center
4000 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles - Lincoln Heights Senior Center
2323 Workman St., Los Angeles
Two library cooling centers will also be open just for this Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.:
- Chinatown Branch Library
639 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles - Pacoima Branch Library
13605 Van Nuys Boulevard, Pacoima
And during regular business hours, most L.A. city recreation centers and libraries serve as cooling centers.
LADWP customers can sign up to receive power outage alerts through text or email here.
For residents in Skid Row, heat relief can be found at climate stations that provide cold beverages, seating, shade and other resources at these locations:
- Towne St. (between 5th St. & 6th. St.) across from ReFresh Spot
- San Pedro St. mid-block between 6th and 7th Streets
- 5th and Maple
Long Beach parks and libraries also serve as cooling centers during normal business hours. The following five locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday:
- Houghton Park
6301 Myrtle Ave., Long Beach - El Dorado Park
2800 Studebaker Road, Long Beach - Silverado Park 1
1545 W. 31st St., Long Beach - McBride Park – California Recreation Community Center
1550 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., Long Beach - Long Beach Senior Center
1150 E. 4th Street, Long Beach
More regional cooling centers
In L.A., Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, call 3-1-1 or call for a list of cooling centers. In the city of Los Angeles, you can also find a list of recreation centers, senior centers and libraries — all good choices for cooling off — online.
- Tip: Call the center in advance to make sure seating is available.
- Tip: If the center you want is at capacity, or non-operational, head to a local, air-conditioned library and cool off with a book about ice fishing in Antarctica.
You can get more details of cooling centers in Southern California:
- L.A. County
- City of L.A. (includes hydration centers)
- Orange County
- Riverside County
- San Bernardino County
Heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke
As excessive heat covers the southland for the next few days, it's important to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
If you don't know how to tell the difference there are two things to look out for: your pulse and sweat levels.
Heat stroke symptoms typically include no sweating, throbbing headache and a rapid strong pulse. Heat exhaustion on the other hand makes you feel faint, dizzy, with a rapid weak pulse and excessive sweating.
To treat heat exhaustion, move to a cooler location, drink water and take a cold shower.
If you are feeling a heat stroke, get help immediately and try to cool down. We have a full breakdown on the crucial differences between heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
